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How we planned a Vacation/House Party in Cancun
When trying to plan a book release party for my family and friends it was challenging to get 20 people (kids & grandma's included) from 2 different countries to meet in a 3rd for a week in Mexico!
Figuring out the logistics for such an endeavor wasn’t easy, it seemed nearly impossible at times, and taught us many lessons that we’d like to share with you.
1) How big is your group? Plan Flexibly
Our group was almost 20 people, and we stayed at a home advertised to hold 20. Making these numbers match up doesn’t just happen. Everyone has their own plans happening, so we had to ask more people than we could lodge, because we knew some wouldn’t make it. Our initial list was 30 people which we split into two lists of guests, the must have in the house and the others whom we sent an invite to with an option of a nearby hotel. Ultimately, we only got 19 confirmations, so at the end it worked out perfectly as we all were able to stay together.
2) Find a place with the right space, amenities, and that has the necessary staff to fit your vibe
Our vibe is chill and flexible. It's vacation, you shouldn’t feel the pressure of someone else’s schedule. Like most, the first option to come to mind when thinking of lodging in Mexico are resorts. They are amazing ways to relax and spend a few days where you don’t have to put brain power into planning anything. Problem is, when you let someone else think for you, meals and schedule. Coordinating this for a large group would have been a real headache. So when we decided to plan a party for 20, we started to look at other options that would allow us to have meals together and have our own schedule instead of the one of a resort. That’s when we started to look for Airbnb options. For a 4 night stay we were able to find a 7 bedroom home, each bedroom came with its own individual bathroom. For $5800, this huge house was right on the ocean, with a beautiful large pool, and lush landscapes! The property was gorgeous, and it came fully staffed with 2 cooks, 1 housekeeper and a security guard, and Vicky who was the head cook, ran the household, and became a dear friend by the end of the stay.
3) Do the grocery shopping yourself
Cancun has a ton of Walmarts with local produce and food. We found this to be a great option, essentially spending an hour picking everything we needed, and saved a ton of money.
How much?
The hosts offered to do the shopping for us for about $80 per person for food, plus alcohol totaling about $2250. We decided we wanted to pick all our own food on the way to the house which roughly cost us $1800 for the 4 days. The advantage to this was not just keeping cost down, but waste as well. We always try to not leave leftover food after a stay and buy just enough. Bonus, our chef was amazing! Vicky, mentioned above, was there from 7am until 8-10pm everyday making us meals and helping us with anything we wanted like transportation to the hotel party zone, and how to change the pool light colors. 😎
4) Book activities and shop around as prices vary so much!
Talita had activities booked throughout the 4 days;
Like Yoga for $100 with Sofia Or salsa lesson with Esteban for $200 and a DJ with Chris Events for $400.
We also had our host book a day where we all got massages for $60 for one hour. Honestly, our stay felt like a mini resort, where we could sit back and relax and be pampered. But we controlled it all, and it felt very exclusive!
5) Book vans for night outs or excursions for those who wish to explore outside of the home
We booked a van for $80 (thanks to Vicky!) to go into downtown Cancun to dance in the hotel zone near Playa Forum. We also had several people in our group book excursions like whale shark watching and explore the Chichén Itzá ruins. And then we had others decide to stay back and play with their drone all day. 🙄 This takes the pressure off of planning excursions for everyone with a large group. We maintained a groupchat with all of the scheduled activities. If someone wanted to do an activity, they could just join in, and everyone got to have the vacation they wanted to have, and everyone was happy!
6) Choosing an international destination is a great way to host a party, and can be way cheaper than a US destination, and you get an amazing vacation out of it!
AirBnBing in Cancun turned out to be a great way to celebrate a special date, stress free, while saving a few $1000s.For our group we saved about $3k compared to what we would have spend on a resort for the same amount of people, never mind the cost of the actual party.
Of course we specifically looked for a host who allowed parties. For us, the cost of a house party was basically just the DJ.
The beauty was that we didn’t have to deal with the logistics of making reservations for a large group for the celebration dinner. We simply let Vicky know when we want to have meals and she would schedule everything around our needs. Overall, choosing an international destination was an amazing experience with a large group, especially with children.
Our Dope Life Continues.
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Yoga for $100 with Sofia
Salsa lesson with Esteban for $200
DJ with Chris Events for $400.
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